Yeoman Yardy shows the virtues of maligned county game

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GOOD old county cricket. For all its foibles, its odd mixture of competitions, its domination by overseas players, it is doing its job in producing players suitable for international cricket. Michael Yardy, Jon Lewis and Jamie Dalrymple proved as much again at Trent Bridge yesterday.

All three were the sort who a couple of seasons ago might have been damned by the faint praise beloved of one or two former Test-playing commentators: “a decent county cricketer”. They have all had the benefit of at least one winter at the National Academy at Loughborough. Each, however, is essentially a product of